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Wednesday, 1 January 2014

The TVweek: Saturday 11th - Friday 17th January 2014

Saturday5.30pm Dynamo: Magician Impossible BBC1 - The series first shown on Watch gets a terrestrial airing.6.15pm Reflex BBC1 - Game show hosted by Shane Richie. Two families battle each other in a series of super-fast physical and mental challenges, all captured in state-of-the-art slow motion. The Watson family from London try and out react the Brownes from Essex.7.00pm The Voice UK BBC1 - The Voice returns for a third series, as pop icon Kylie Minogue and Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson join Sir Tom Jones and will.i.am in the search for the UK's next vocal sensation. This series welcomes new presenters Emma Willis and Marvin Humes, who console and congratulate acts as they face the first of the blind auditions.9.00pm Hostages Channel 4 - US drama series, starring Toni Collette and Dylan McDermott, about a family caught in the middle of a grand political conspiracy that will change their lives for ever.Sunday9.00pm All New It'll be Alright on the Night's Best of the Worst ITV - Griff Rhys Jones returns with his favourite selection of outtakes from the Alright on the Night archives. Featuring Richard Whiteley and the ferret, the dog on the Welsh hillside, and classics from the early days of the show - including Morecambe and Wise, Kenny Everett, Dick Emery and Frankie Howerd.11.05pm Shameless USA More4 - In the first episode of the third season, Fiona struggles to accept the new 'boring' Jimmy now that they're living together. Frank wakes up in a place that is completely foreign to him and struggles to make the long journey back home. After another court appearance, Lip is sentenced to community service, and Baby Hymie's crying keeps Jody and Sheila awake all night.Monday8.00pm Dogs: Their Secret Lives Channel 4 - Following the public response to his original programme, vet Mark Evans looks again at how our lives and those of our dogs have radically changed in the last 50 years. Man's best friend is spending more and more time home alone. Using hidden cameras, a ground-breaking study from the world's leading dog scientists and the results of an extensive viewer survey, this updated documentary reveals what our dogs get up to while we're out. Footage from dozens of homes shows sleepy, active, howling and fretful dogs. Infrared cameras reveal what's happening inside Bruno the boxer/Rottweiler cross's head, while a dog vocalisation expert analyses Max the Alsatian's howling to understand what he's trying to communicate. Evans, the former chief vet at the RSPCA, catches up with the treatment of these dogs' separation issues. He discovers whether new technology allowing dogs to make phone calls and watch TV is the key to keeping our canine companions happy in the modern British home.8.00pm Go Hard, Or Go Home Five - Adventure challenge series in which transatlantic yachtswoman Hannah White prepares ordinary members of the public for some of the world's most extreme endurance races. In this episode, four GPs must train for The Bonebreaker, a 127-mile bicycle race across the towering peaks of the Pyrenees, twice crossing the border of France and Spain. The event has around 8,000 entrants, all of whom train 12 months a year and consider themselves to be amongst the best cyclists in the world.8.30pm The Great Sport Relief Bake Off BBC2 - Celebrities take on baking challenges for Sport Relief. The Bake Off returns for four special Sport Relief programmes. In each episode there are four celebrity bakers facing three challenges set by Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood, each hoping to win the Sport Relief Star Baker apron. This time the tent has four different hosts: Sue Perkins hands over the baton to Jo Brand, then to Omid Djalili and finally Ed Byrne. Sue Perkins hosts the first episode, in which cricketer Michael Vaughan, James Bond and Downton Abbey actress Samantha Bond, Harry Potter actress Bonnie Wright and broadcaster Johnny Vaughan enter the tent. For the signature challenge they must make sandwich biscuits, for the technical challenge a tarte tatin and for the showstopper a 3D novelty cake, which must represent a sporting landmark.9.00pm I Want my Baby Back BBC1 - Reporter John Sweeney investigates the secretive world of the family courts and asks whether some parents may have unfairly lost their children forever.9.00pm Sun, Sex & Suspicious Parents BBC3 - Unsuspecting young people head for the holiday of a lifetime in Thailand, little knowing that their parents will be following them and watching their every move. Two very different groups of mates are on the island of Koh Samui, Thailand's original party destination.10.00pm Dave: Loan Ranger Channel 4 - First Dave Fishwick took on the bankers and successfully fought the regulators to open his own small 'bank' in the award-winning series Bank of Dave. Since opening his tiny 'bank', Dave has seen how the poorest in society can become trapped in cycles of debt after borrowing money from a new breed of moneylenders - the payday loan companies. Now he wants to do something about it. In this one hour special, Dave tests out a series of high risk loans for people who have got into payday loan problems.10.00pm Baby Faced Brides Five - Documentary following couples from different parts of the UK and different backgrounds who all have something in common - they will be walking up the aisle as teenagers. 18-year-old Lauren is marrying her 19-year-old boyfriend having been together for less than six months, and Rebecca was 15 and pregnant when she Aaron. How will these young couples cope as they prepare the biggest day of their lives?10.00pm Uncle BBC3 - Sitcom about an unemployed musician who forges an unlikely alliance with his 12-year-old nephew after being morally blackmailed into looking after him by his chaotic sister. Andy is preparing to commit suicide when he is disturbed by a call from his sister Sam, begging for help with child care. Andy and his nephew Errol are reluctantly thrown together for the day. Things are looking up when Andy meets Errol's teacher, Melodie. On chaperone duty, Andy takes Errol to play football with Tiffany and hangs out with Bruce. Andy takes Errol on an ill-advised trip to visit his ex-girlfriend Gwen at her dad's club and Val is not amused.Tuesday8.00pm The Great Sport Relief Bake Off BBC2 - Sue Perkins hands over the baton to Jo Brand to support the next four celebrity bakers through their three challenges. This time the battle is between Desert Island Discs' Kirsty Young, singer and actress Jane Horrocks, Olympic gold-medal winning long jumper Greg Rutherford and ice skating's Mr Nasty, Jason Gardiner. For the signature challenge Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood have set gingerbread biscuits, for the technical a banoffee pie and for the showstopper a representation of their jobs - in cake. From Kirsty's 'Dessert Island Dish' cake to Greg's sponge sandpit, who will impress and be the one to win the Sport Relief Star Baker Apron?9.00pm Death in Paradise BBC1 - Third series of the quirky crime drama starring Ben Miller. A university reunion party that DI Richard Poole is attending is brought to an abrupt halt when one of the group is murdered with an ice pick. With the case proving particularly sensitive, a new British detective, DI Humphrey Goodman, arrives on the island to help the team get to the bottom of the mysterious case. As the station's newest recruit with his own set of methods, will Humphrey be able to adjust to his new team and surroundings? Kris Marshall stars.9.00pm Wild Brazil BBC2 - Three-part nature documentary. Three charismatic animal families, capuchin monkeys, giant otters and coatis, strive to raise their families against a backdrop of extraordinary landscapes and huge extremes of weather - a beautiful yet dangerous world full of jaguars and caiman. An intimate journey to the heart of a spectacular country, this first chapter of the trilogy sees the babies taking their first steps during a brief pause between seasonal extremes. Continues Tomorrow, Concludes Thursday.9.00pm Paul O'Grady's Animal Orphans ITV - First of a three-part series in which Paul O'Grady visits Zambia and South Africa on the trail of young animals which have been orphaned in the wild, either through the actions of poachers or through farming forcing them out of their natural habitats.9.00pm Underage and Over the Limit BBC3 - Documentary which follows Phil Tye, a youth worker on the frontline fighting against the underage drink epidemic in the north east of England. The region has the country's highest percentage of 11 to 15-year-olds drinking alcohol and it also has double the national average of under-18s in treatment for drink-related problems. The film also asks teenagers why they start so early and drink so much.10.00pm House of Fools BBC2 - Anarchic, surreal sitcom starring Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, featuring the uninvited lodgers, visitors and guests who constantly wreak havoc in their home. With the help of his friend Beef, Bob has a hot date lined up. All he needs now is to get rid of all his unwanted house guests, so he and his new lady can watch Conan the Barbarian in peace. Unfortunately, Vic has broken the telly, and Bob tasks him with finding another one, or he risks being chucked out of the flat for good. As a last resort Vic may have to ask his neighbour Julie for help. When Vic's brother Bosh - newly out of prison - turns up, Bob is still nowhere near having things perfect for his upcoming date. With a break-in, a gas leak, some crisp chardonnay and the Hindenburg Stretch maybe they will find a way to stop Bob from having to cancel the date.10.35pm Motorway Cops BBC1Wednesday8.00pm The Great Sport Relief Bake Off BBC2 - Omid Djalili is host of the Bake Off tent. This time, those facing the judges are Olivier award-winning singer Michael Ball, broadcaster and co-founder of Comic Relief Emma Freud, singer and presenter Jamelia and Olympic gold-medallist Victoria Pendleton. As they warm up for their baking marathon, so does the rivalry between Emma and Michael, but only one can win the Star Baker Apron. For their signature challenge they face a traybake, for the technical they must make iced ring doughnuts, and for the showstopper - layered cakes which must pay homage to their personal sporting heroes.9.00pm The Kumars Sky 1 - The Kumars are back and, now reporting from the showbiz capital of Hounslow, they get the latest from guests Daniel Radcliffe, Chevy Chase and Olivia Colman.9.00pm Hidden Histories: Britain's Oldest Family Businesses BBC4 - Series of three documentaries following the bosses of three of Britain's oldest family businesses as they go on a journey into their remarkable pasts. Richard Balson's family have been butchers for almost 500 years, since Henry VIII was on the throne. He goes back through centuries of butchery, to the origin of the British high street. Along the way he discovers how the Balsons have stayed in the butchery business despite scandal and tragedy.10.00pm Finding Mum & Dad Channel 4 - Connor and Daniel are brothers. For over 12 months, they've been in care, waiting to be adopted. But, as sibling boys, aged six and four, they are 'hard to place'. With exclusive access, filmed over the course of a year, this Cutting Edge documentary goes behind the scenes of a bold new scheme designed to give children like Connor and Daniel a last shot at finding new mums and dads.Thursday8.00pm Hidden Kingdoms BBC1 - Nature documentary telling the story of two young animals forced to grow up fast. In Africa's savannah a baby elephant shrew learns how speed is the secret to survival amongst the largest animals on earth; and in America a young grasshopper mouse confronts the Wild West's deadliest creatures to stake a claim of his own.8.00pm The Great Sport Relief Bake Off BBC2 - It is Ed Byrne's turn to take up the baking baton and support the four celebrities as they face their three challenges in the Bake Off tent. The bakers on the starting line are impressionist Alistair McGowan, Saturdays singer Rochelle Humes, comedian Doon Mackichan and former Blue Peter presenter Helen Skelton. The bakers must make pizzas for their signature challenge, eccles cakes in the technical challenge and showstopping tiered cakes that represent sporting equipment.9.00pm Brooklyn Nine-Nine E4 - The first season of the US comedy about a group of New York City police detectives, starring Andy Samberg and Andre Braugher. Jake Peralta is a talented but carefree detective at Brooklyn's 99th Precinct. He and his eclectic group of colleagues are used to having a commanding officer who doesn't make them work too hard or follow the rules too closely. But when tightly-wound Captain Ray Holt, a man with a lot to prove, takes over, he is determined to make his dysfunctional team of detectives into the best precinct squad in Brooklyn.10.00pm Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe BBC2 - Charlie Brooker returns with his unique brand of satirical commentary, as he and his guests attempt to squeeze some fun from a troubled world. Whether it's news, or film, TV, or Twitter, if it is making the agenda and is worth pointing a finger and laughing at Charlie will tackle it. And if there is nothing else to tackle, then expect lengthy chunks on the worst adverts or most pointless events. There are the usual mix of guests including American misanthrope and comedian Doug Stanhope along with some new features and brand new contributors. January is grey, futile, cold and depressing, so why not tune in to Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe to discover why.Friday8.30pm An Island Parish BBC2 - Series following the community on the tiny crown dependency of Sark in the Channel Islands9.00pm William & Mary ITV3 - Another chance to see the romantic comedy drama starring Martin Clunes and Julie Graham.